Prof. Alexander Fedotov is one of the few people to whom the East not just unveiled its deepest secrets, but did so willingly. His invaluable legacy consists of numerous texts on ancient and medieval Korean, Mongolian and Tibetan culture, literature, philosophy and religion. However this time we are offered to encounter something more personal – the photographic archive of his last travels to the East.
The photography exhibition was opened on the 11th of March at the Gallery – bookshop “Sofia Press”. It is organised by the Foundation “Prof. Alexander Fedotov”, the Club “Friends of India” and the Embassy of India in Bulgaria. The Curator of the gallery, Mrs. Olympia Nikolova, shares that prof. Fedotov’s wife – Mrs. Snejana Todorova, provided her with the memory card of his personal phone, which stored an enormous photographic material. Beside everything else, prof. Fedotov was famous for being a passionate traveler – he had visited around 126 countries in the world! This is why the exhibition was limited only to the last two years of his travels, when he visited India, China and South Korea. The main purpose of the exhibition is to show the experience of prof. Fedotov as a traveler, his emotions, boyish spontaneity, genuine curiosity and contagious enthusiasm.
The exhibition is titled “With Love to the East” due to the fact that in one of his articles prof. Fedotov stated that he truly loved the East, and his lifelong efforts are without a doubt a confirmation of this love – his contribution to the foundation of the Center for East Languages and Cultures at Sofia University, for the establishment of the Korean Studies program in Bulgaria, for the opening of the Sejong Institute in Sofia, the completing of more than 40 books and translations, among many others.
How does it feel to see the East through one of the most erudite and insightful point of view? At the exhibition you can see photographs not only from the Republic of Korea, China and India, but also New Caledonia and the Republic of Fiji. “With love to the East” is actually the second exhibition from a series of events in memory of prof. Fedotov. The first one, opened on the 6th of March – his birth date, is called “A Flower for you” and also presents his photographs from around the world, this time specifically of flowers. Both of the events are a good occasion to once more pay respects to the memory of prof. Fedotov.
The exhibition “With Love to the East” can be visited until the 28th of March at the Gallery – bookshop “Sofia Press”.
The exhibition “A Flower for you” can be visited until the 25th of March at the Russian Cultural and Information Center.
